Return of the Dragon
by Mirai Trunks
Summary: 50 years after the original Power Rangers, Lord Zedd and Rita's son comes to Earth for revenge. A long retired Ranger is called back into action to save the planet.
1. Guess who's back?

Ok, I don't own anything Power Ranger related, they're all copyright ABC or Fox. Enjoy.  
  
Return of the Dragon  
  
The planet Earth. Evil has not reared its ugly head for over 20 years. Consequently, it has been 20 years since the planet has needed the protection of the Power Rangers. Memories of who and what the Power Rangers were have long since faded from the minds of the people of Earth. All that remains to serve as a reminder of the once widely known team of heroes is a small, infrequently visited museum in the suburbs of Angel Grove, California. The aging monument is owned and operated by an elderly couple who live in an apartment attached to the rear of the museum. Their day-to-day life consisted of strolling about the half-dozen poorly lit hallways of their displays, dusting this and that, and hoping for a curious passerby to decide to set foot in their entrance. That was their daily routine, but then something unusual happened.  
  
The old man made his way down the 3rd hallway of the exhibit. As he shuffled along, he hummed to himself. Pausing, he opened a display and pulled out a red helmet designed to be reminiscent of a Tyrannosaurus Rex's head. His humming turned to whistling as he polished the black visor. He smiled when the dust has been cleared and his weathered face stared back at him. His wife turned the corner and stopped to watch her husband reminisce in the dark gaze of the visor. He noticed her presence and looked up into her eyes.  
  
"I just wish we had mine here," he sighed. "Then the museum would truly be complete."  
  
"Having five out of six of the original Power Ranger suits is not too shabby, you know." She walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"I know. but mine was different. It had distinctness to it that even the young whippersnappers' never had," he waved an arm outward to gesture to all the other suits. She smiled, and he returned the smile.  
  
"Come, I'll prepare lunch, Tommy."  
  
"I'll be there in a minute, Kat," he watched her as she turned to leave. Tommy Oliver sighed again.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
On the dark side of the moon, a crescent shaped starship hung in orbit. A lone figure stood at the main view port, staring at the barren terrain.  
  
"So this is where they had the moon castle," the person said to no one in particular.  
  
"Yes, my master. It was here that your parents crafted their most brilliant schemes to conquer the blue planet you see just over the horizon," said an ancient alien with a pale dog-like face. He leaned heavily on a cane.  
  
"Tell me, Finster, what became of my parents?" The creature turned to face the former monster craftsman.  
  
"Ah yes. as you may recall, following their expulsion from this galaxy, Rita Repulsa and her husband Lord Zedd resided in the M-51 galaxy with Master Vile."  
  
"Yeah, yeah."  
  
"To make a long story short. when the Red Space Ranger named Andros shattered the energy tube containing Zordon, your parent's arch-enemy, the resulting wave of pure energy transformed your parents into mortal human form," Finster swallowed hard.  
  
"They have since been deceased for well over a decade."  
  
"I see."  
  
"I understand it is your intent to do what your predecessors failed to do, Master Zonor."  
  
"Yes, which is why I require an experienced advisor such as yourself, Finster," Zonor turned to face the withered creature.  
  
"Master Zonor, I am several millennia old. and it has been close to 50 years since I last crafted a monster for your mother."  
  
"That is irrelevant, for I possess an Elite Zord the likes of which this galaxy has never seen."  
  
"You must be joking Master Zonor! Does such a thing actually exist!?" Finster was dumbfounded.  
  
"Yes, it does. My parents were smart enough to save the blue-prints from their pet-project, all I did was update its design."  
  
"So, in a way, this plan of theirs in being implemented-"  
  
"Even though they no longer live," Zonor concluded. "Soon, the Earth will be mine, and the non-existent Power Rangers can do nothing about it!" He slammed his fist on a nearby railing and began laughing.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Tommy could have sworn he had heard a familiar series of tones sounding from one of the displays. Kat kept insisting that it must have been his hearing acting up again, but he knew something was going on. He had begun the process of inspecting the cases, pressing his ear against the glass doors.  
  
Deet deet deet-deet deet deet  
  
"There!" The old man hobbled over to the case he had been cleaning out earlier, the one with the Tyrannosaurus helmet. He had recognized the tune the first time he had heard it. It was so well known to him that there was no way he could have forgotten it, even after all these years. It was one of the communicators that Zordon had given him, along with the five other original power rangers way back when.  
  
"I told Kat it wasn't my hearing! Here it is, plain as day." he cradled the wrist-watch like device in his weathered hands. "Let's see if I remember how to turn it on properly." he pressed the button on the side.  
  
"H-hello! Is anyone there!? Ai-yai-yai." a memorable high-pitched mechanical voice squealed.  
  
"It can't be." Tommy's brow furrowed in thought.  
  
"T-Tommy!?! Is that you!?" The voice asked frantically.  
  
"Yeah, it's me. Alpha-5."  
  
"Ai-yai-yai! This is incredible! I'm so lucky to have actually made contact with someone. I need you to come to the Command Center immediately!"  
  
"Alpha, that building was demolished years ago, right before the Power Rangers went into space."  
  
"Yes, I'm well aware of that Tommy! I'm currently located in the hidden chamber where Zordon and I generated your White Tiger powers. Ai-yai-yai! I returned to Earth once I heard the terrible news!"  
  
"What terrible news, Alpha?"  
  
"You remember how to use the communicator to teleport right? Please teleport here immediately! It is of the utmost importance!"  
  
Tommy paused and considered what Alpha was jabbering about. What kind of bad thing could have occurred that required Alpha's return to Earth. much less to a long ago decimated Command Center?  
  
"I'll be right there," Tommy cupped his hands to his mouth and called down the hall. "Kat, I'm going out to run an errand! I'll be back soon!"  
  
"All right, take care!" Kat called back.  
  
Tommy's mind raced. He hadn't done this in ages, but he still remembered the sensation when his body dematerialized and teleported. Smiling, he activated the teleportation function.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Ai-yai-yai, this is horrible! What are we going to do?!" Alpha wobbled about in the ruins of the Command Center. Tommy teleported while Alpha was mid-sentence.  
  
"It really is you Tommy!" Alpha-five chirped happily.  
  
"It's good to see you too, Alpha," Tommy replied with a smile. He then got serious. "What's this trouble you were talking about?"  
  
"Well." The droid scuttled over to the broken viewing globe and turned around to face Tommy.  
  
"Zordon thought this day would never come, that we would not have to be concerned about-"  
  
"Alpha, what is it?"  
  
"Well, you see, Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa managed to produce a son prior to their conversion to human form by Zordon's wave beams of light."  
  
"WHAT?! You're joking!" Tommy was taken aback by the news.  
  
"No, it's quite true. His name is Prince Zonor," Alpha fumbled with the viewing globe for a moment, and a fuzzy image appeared. A man wearing silver battle armor, red-tinged skin, dark hair drawn in a long ponytail, and a dark tinted visor over his eyes looked out from the sphere.  
  
"No way."  
  
"Yes way, Tommy. And his personal starship recently appeared on the dark side of the moon."  
  
"His folks old hang out."  
  
"Precisely. He plans to launch an all-out attack against the Earth using a Zord of unimaginable power!"  
  
"What Zord? I thought all the Power Zords had been destroyed or damaged beyond repair except for my." he paused and looked down. "I mean, even Serpentera was destroyed!"  
  
"You are correct, but utilizing the blue-prints for Serpentera, Prince Zonor has crafted a new Power Zord of near invincible might." The viewing globe snowed over, then cleared. It showed a bi-pedal Zord that looked similar to a more compact, scaled down Serpentera.  
  
"I get it, all the fire power in a more convenient size."  
  
"Exactly. According to my calculations, Prince Zonor will launch his attack within the next few hours." Alpha's shoulders slumped in dismay.  
  
"And what are we going to do to stop him?"  
  
"Not we, Tommy. You."  
  
"Me?! I hate to admit it, but I'm not as young as I used to be. Time hasn't been too kind on this old body."  
  
"Which is why I have this!" Alpha pressed a button on his chest-plate and a hidden compartment slid open. He reached in and pulled out a small glowing vial.  
  
"Don't tell me that's-"  
  
"Youth serum, precisely."  
  
"Incredible." Tommy picked up the small bottle and held it in front of his face. The eerie green glow flowed over his aged features.  
  
"However, it only has a temporary effect. It lasts for approximately 2 days, and then you'll revert back to your actual age."  
  
"That's great, but what am I going to fight Zonor with? All the Power Ranger powers are no longer able to be used, and like I said the Zords."  
  
"But like you said there is one that, although dormant, is still fully functional."  
  
"How could I use it, I thought the powers were gone when Rita-"  
  
"Yes, yes. but in our time on his home planet, Zordon and I devised this, just in case it was needed," Alpha opened a second hidden compartment and pulled out a dark green box. He carefully opened it. Inside was a golden Power Morpher with a golden Power Coin with the insignia of a 3-toed reptilian foot-print.  
  
"This is impossible. But Zordon said my powers were gone!"  
  
"At the time, we had no way of returning them, but later we discovered a way. This is the result."  
  
"This is all too much."  
  
"Tommy, you must do it. The entire Earth depends on you and you alone." The Command Center suddenly shook. The viewing globe showed a crescent shaped craft landing, and the mini-Serpentera leaving its docking bay.  
  
"Well, I guess it's now or never." Tommy looked at the two objects held in his grasp. He gently uncorked the bottle and drank the contents. He was enveloped in a bright green-white aura. When the light dissipated, he was once again a teenager.  
  
"Ai-yai-yai! It worked! It worked!" Alpha cheered.  
  
"I guess there's one last thing to say, Alpha."  
  
"And what's that, Tommy?" The young man smiled, as he used to do.  
  
"It's Morphin' Time!"  
  
End of Part I. 


	2. It's Morphin' Time!

Here we go. I present to you the Part Two. Crank up "Go Green Ranger, Go!" and read on.  
  
"Dragonzord!" A column of darker green light surrounded and enveloped the now youthful Tommy. He could feel his powers returning to him for the first time in over 50 years. The light quickly became sucked inward to one point, as if being drawn in by a minute black hole. That point was center diamond on his golden Dragon Shield.  
  
"This is incredible!" Tommy exclaimed.  
  
"Ai-yai-yai! It's so wonderful to see one of the original Power Rangers!" Alpha chirped happily. "But you mustn't delay Tommy. It's time for you to face Zonor."  
  
"Let's do it!" With that, Tommy teleported out of the Command Center. Alpha looked at the worn viewing globe in dismay. The image shown was the mini- Serpentera trashing downtown Angel Grove.  
  
"Oh, do be careful Tommy..." Alpha said to himself.  
  
"Aw, man..." Tommy grimaced beneath his helmet. Zonor's serpentine Zord raised its right fist and bashed a building at its midpoint, causing it to bend over and collapse. Its neck jerked to the side and it sprayed laser blasts horizontally across the cityscape.  
  
"I've got to stop this," Tommy instinctively reached down to his left side and grasped a familiar dagger hilt. He slowly raised his infamous blade and looked at it briefly before putting the mouthpiece to his helmet's lips. He began to play the hauntingly beautiful melody that no one had heard in half a century. As the last note rung in his ears, a loud splash erupted from the nearby port, and a recognizable roar sounded.  
  
Tommy smiled inwardly and continued playing. The Dragonzord flexed its long- dormant joints, and its drill-blade tail whirred satisfactorily. It roared again, and began its march to the battlefield.  
  
"Alright! Dragonzord go!" Tommy leapt on top of his old Zord's head.  
  
"Man, this brings back memories..." he mused before jumping inside the cockpit. Inside the control center, he turned on the Zord's external speakers and shouted a challenge into the broadcaster.  
  
"Hey, Zonor! Over here!" Initiating the set of commands so that the Zord would follow his every move, Tommy raised a fist, clenched his fingers, and threw his arm outward, fingers splayed. The Dragonzord responded by loading missiles in its metallic fingers and let loose the explosive volley. They were direct hits across the enemy Zord's torso.  
  
"What is this!? I was told all the Power Rangers had been deactivated for years!!" Zonor cried out in shock from inside his Zord.  
  
"Well think again! I was there when we defeated your parents and I'm all- too-happy to take you down as well!" Tommy broadcast from his Zord.  
  
"Prime missile volleys two and three," he cut the broadcast and said to his own Zord. This time, he raised both fists, and then sent them out fingers wide. The load of projectiles streaked out toward mini-Serpentera. The other Zord raised an open hand to block the incoming shots. It managed to stop two or three, but the rest connected on the Zord's outstretched arm, and up the length of its snake-like neck. It staggered under the successive blows of the attack.  
  
"I don't know who you are, but I will take great pleasure in accomplishing the one feat my parents could never achieve, the destruction of the Power Rangers!" Zonor laughed heartily. His hands flew over the controls of the mini-Serpentera. Suddenly, the Zord's neck snapped backward like a whip then forward in a S-shaped motion. A beam of energy shot from its mouth, connecting with the center of the Dragonzord's chest armor. Tommy stumbled backward, his own body reacting to the damage his Zord was taking. Zonor pressed the attack, and the Dragonzord fell backward through a building, crashing to the ground.  
  
"Alright, new tactic then," Tommy said as he got the Zord to its feet. The Dragonzord reared back, letting out a mighty roar. It bent over slightly and began running toward Zonor.  
  
"You're actually trying to attack me without weapons?! You are a fool!" Zonor activated the twin eye beams, which scattered in all directions – but failed to strike the Dragonzord. Tommy began to gain momentum. Frantically, Zonor extinguished the eye beams and powered up the mouth cannon again. Just as he was about to let loose another devastating energy attack, Tommy head-butted the mini-Serpentera, lifting it off its feet.  
  
"Yeah!" Tommy pumped a fist as he watched his opponent roll end over end before tumbling to the ground. Just as Zonor was about to get up, Tommy swung the Dragonzord around, tail-drill whirring. The tail-drill flashed across mini-Serpentera several times, a rain of sparks flying in all directions. As the Dragonzord made another pass, one of mini-Serpentera's forearms shot upward and grabbed the tail just beyond the spinning blades.  
  
"Uh oh," was all Tommy could say before Zonor's Zord rose, still holding the Dragonzord by the tail. "This can't be good... I've got to break free!" Zonor solidified his grip by bringing the Zord's other forearm to grasp the tail. The tail-drill spun, with no effect. Suddenly, Zonor jerked back on the tail as if he were playing tug-of-war with a rope. The entire Dragonzord shook from the stress, and it let out a piercing cry as it wobbled around on its toes. Zonor yanked again, further damaging the Dragonzord.  
  
"Augh! At this rate he's going to rip off the Dragonzord's tail! What can I do...?" Tommy steadied himself in the Zord's cockpit. Pausing for a moment, he rested his helmeted chin on a gloved hand. "Wait... that's it!" he shouted. The Dragonzord's knees buckled, and it crouched low.  
  
"What is he planning to do?" Zonor asked, obviously confused by the new tactic. The Dragonzord quickly sprang upward, swinging its tail down and forward. The motion dragged Zonor's Zord across the ground and into view. Mini-Serpentera's left arm lost its hold.  
  
"Ready, load missile volley four! And... FIRE!" The missiles streaked outward, heading right toward the shoulder junction of the right arm, which had already reached its limit in terms of movement, due to the surprise throw. Upon impact, the resulting explosions severed the arm at the shoulder. The Dragonzord landed, and flung its tail to the side, causing the amputated arm to fly off into the distance.  
  
"NO!!!" Zonor cried out in anger. Fluids and sparks poured out of his Zord's fresh wound. Tommy quickly spun the Dragonzord so the tail-drill bore into the shoulder stump.  
  
"Energy levels dropping! Back-up systems beginning to fail! This can't be happening!" Zonor beat the controls with clenched fists.  
  
"It's over Zonor, you're finished!" Tommy broadcast aloud. Mini-Serpentera shook its head in a negative response.  
  
"The Zord may seem useless, but I still have one ace up my sleeve. Prepare to be destroyed, Power Ranger!" Zonor cut the speakers and opened a secret panel to reveal a large glowing blue button. "If I have to lose this Zord, then yours will go down with it!" Zonor laughed maniacally.  
  
"What the...?" Tommy saw his opponent's Zord go limp - even its giant cranium sagged downward over its chest. "Wait a minute..." an eerie blue light began emanating from mini-Serpentera's head. The neck quickly snapped up unexpectedly, jaws wide.  
  
"Full power into the mouth cannon! This should do it..." Zonor waited until the blaster's energy had maxed out before he set a short timer and leapt from the Zord to the ground. "Goodbye, last of the Power Rangers," he sneered.  
  
"Did he just do what I think he did? This is looking worse by the minute... I better get the Dragonzord out of here!" Tommy exited the Dragonzord and jumped from the head to a nearby building. He pulled out the Dragon Dagger and played the return notes. The Dragonzord began lumbering back to its watery resting place.  
  
"Not so fast!" Zonor said. Mini-Serpentera's eyes glowed incredibly intense, then shattered into a million shards of plasteel. A huge blue- white beam left the Zord's mouth with a thunderous boom. Tommy watched in horror as the beam struck the Dragonzord in the back, sending it flying – propelled by the beam. The beam ran out of energy just as the Dragonzord flew above the water in the port. Billowing with smoke and charred with damage, the Dragonzord plunged into the blue waters. It sank quickly, disappearing beneath the tossing waves. Nearby, the energy depleted mini- Serpentera collapsed in a smoking heap, completely powerless.  
  
Tommy stepped off the edge of the building, flipped mid-air, and landed in a crouch. He stood up cautiously, seething with rage. Slowly, he began to step forward, walking with a deliberate pace toward Zonor. The son of Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa stuck his chest out defiantly, holding his sword at his side.  
  
"Zonor!!!" Tommy shouted in challenge. He held the Dragon Dagger out, its glistening point aimed at Zonor's throat. "Let's finish this!!!" 


End file.
